Triple H underwent what we believe was a minor neck operation earlier this week with Dr. Andrews in Birmingham, AL. He has targeted a return to television in a few weeks. H is also on the cover of the latest WWE magazine with the headline "Triple H Lays Siege To WWE! The King Returns".

Vince McMahon, before Ricky Steamboat was hospitalized, had asked him to relocate to Tampa where presumably he would assist full-time with FCW. Last we heard, Steamboat was scheduled to be released from the hospital and return home to North Carolina for a month of rest. The impression we have is that he will return to work at some point whether behind the scenes as an agent and/or as a trainer in developmental. Backstage talk at the tapings this week was that although the company line is that Steamboat's bleeding on the brain had nothing to do with the TV angle on 6/28--and it may well not do--they probably won't be doing any beat downs on legends ever again. WWE people noted to us that this has been said a few times before, dating back over a decade, when Bubba Ray Dudley powerbombed a then 77-year-old Mae Young from the stage through a table during an episode of Raw at the Meadowlands.

Raw on Monday night did a 3.4 rating and averaged 4.8 million viewers.

NXT on Tuesday did a 0.8 rating and 1.1 million viewers... Matt Stryker returned this week in his host role. New announcer Ashley Valance was backstage but her segment was apparently cut due to time constraints. No truth to reports she has already been let go.

Northeast indy wrestler Bill Carr was offered a developmental deal.

WWE also took a look at Mitch Monteiro, a kid from Southern California who placed 5th as a heavyweight in the 2010 NCAA tournament. He's listed as 6-2, 285 pounds majoring in criminal justice at CSU Bakersfield. Gerald Brisco is trying to recruit him to WWE but there is also interest from some NFL training camps.

They are doing another Axxess event this year at SummerSlam on 8/14 and 8/15 at Nokia Plaza in Los Angeles. Mattel are presenting a special "Be Your Own Action Figure" exhibit, Topps are launching a new trading card game, THQ are hosting a video contest, plus the usual meet and greets with the wrestlers. Tickets are priced at $20 per session plus a limited number of VIP tickets at $70 per session.

Today's Peoria Journal Star has a story on Sheamus at http://tinyurl.com/37k5j24. He says his favorite wrestlers are Stan Hanson (from watching his tapes) and Fit Finlay.

A correction from the last newsletter. May's Over the Limit pay-per-view was actually estimated at doing just under 200,000 buys. Even with the $5 price increase, that number will be viewed as a fail in the eyes of investors comparable to Judgment Day (228,000 buys) in the same month last year.

The Shawn Michaels: My Journey DVD has sold 127,000 copies to date.

Titan is releasing a special #0 prequel WWE comic at this year's San Diego Comic Con with a cover drawn by Jerry Lawler who will be signing copies at the convention.

The Lexington Herald Leader has a story on WWE coming to town for Raw next Monday and covered some of Kentucky's connections to pro wrestling at http://tinyurl.com/3xvy8b6. The story notes that Randy Savage married Elizabeth Hulette (Miss Elizabeth)--a native of Louisville--and at one-time lived in Lexington with his late father Angelo promoting his ICW promotion in the town. They also brought up the disastrous segment of WCW Thunder from Lexington with Chris Jericho mocking Goldberg's ring entrance. The idea was he was locked out of Rupp Arena only for a production person to come and open the door for him. And then he had to pretend the door wasn't open.

At this point there are no guest hosts scheduled beyond Florence Henderson next Monday in Lexington. 76-year-old Henderson wasn't even mentioned as appearing this past Monday.

Long-time WWE insider Bruce Prichard is doing a weekly audio show at http://tinyurl.com/39b7yr2. He talks all the latest news in wrestling, makes fun of Taz and Michael Cole, and does some wacky impersonations of Dusty Rhodes.

The London Financial Times at http://tinyurl.com/3ya4wcu has an article on WWE attempting to crack the market in China. Andrew Whittaker of WWE talks about the difficulties companies face over there. "We worked under the rules to deliver content to fit needs that adhere to local regulation," he said. Linda McMahon is also quoted for some reason. They may have used comments from an old interview. "We have no idea what to expect in China," she was quoted as saying. "We’re looking for a long term presence there. We are committed to the market."

Scott Hall was hospitalized earlier today with pneumonia. No update on his condition at press time. He had told friends he hadn't felt very well during the last few days.

Ric Flair is interviewed in the latest issue of Bizarre magazine on sale now in the UK. Nice publicity for the company over there. Flair said regarding his womanizing in the 1980s: "My flings were always 'one time only' affairs in my eyes, but my partners didn't always think so. I wasn't trying to break their hearts, though; I wanted to make an impression - to give those girls a great memory for life - and to make sure I was a hard act to follow for the next guys in their beds. (laughs) Once a lady's lived through 'The Legend' there's no going back!" He said back in the day he loved to drink, but never did any drugs. He said he once witnessed Andre the Giant guzzle 106 bottles of beer while he could only manage 20 before getting drunk. When asked if he would ever do a reality show like Hulk Hogan, he mentioned the pilot he filmed two years ago with son Reid. He claimed they had to cancel production because Reid got sick with glandular fever from making out with so many women. That's a good one. He was also asked what an adult movie between himself and Brooke Hogan would entail. He said: "It'd be called 'Dare To Live The Legend', and it'd contain everything Brooke would dare to do with me. I make love to my wife at least twice everyday, so I'm not sure Ms Hogan could handle me."

Jeff Hardy is due back in court today.

Apparently "huge news" is coming today, according to Jeff Jarrett via his Twitter page. Historically here, this just means news.

Meanwhile, Dixie Carter is also having fun on her Twitter, writing: "Just finished watching the LOST series. Better late than never. I am more lost than ever but loved it. Not everything needs to make sense." Fun part in that last sentence.

Brother Ray vs. Brother Devon vs. Jesse Neal in a three-way was added to Sunday's Victory Road pay-per-view. This does make sense.

The company is sending Kurt Angle and Jay Lethal to India next week for a promotional tour. This could be the big news. They will be visiting Mumbai, Hyderabad, Delhi, and Chandigarh.

A neat new ad with clips from Brooklyn pushing live events and the tag line "where the fans comes first" at http://tinyurl.com/3y4ohbx.

Douglas Williams, who was recently signed a new long-term deal, is planning to relocate to the U.S.

For the week ending 6/24 Impact did an estimated 125,000 viewers in the UK.

OTHER WRESTLING NEWS

Dave Batista is in the midst of a two-day training camp with Cesar Gracie in California, which was organised by Strikeforce. They want to put him through his paces to see how serious he is about MMA. He trained with Strikeforce middleweight champion Jake Shields and Strikeforce welterweight champion Nick Diaz on Wednesday. "He's got a lot to learn but his strength alone is impressive," Gracie told Sherdog.com last night. "Obviously he's a beginner at jiu-jitsu but we can take a guy like that that's already a strong athlete like that and teach him what to not get caught in." Gracie added that Batista hits very hard. "You're talking about a guy who is very powerful, very strong and an extremely hard worker, and if he can put it all together he could be a very formidable force," he said. "And he's at the right camp for that... Our camp is known for bringing people with nothing and making them into something. We like to make champs."

Brian Elliott at Slam Wrestling has an awesome story on Baby Doll, Nickla Roberts. She talks extensively about her wrestling career and leaving the business for a family life in 1988. "It was really hard to walk away from the business," she said. "People would see you around, and they'd go 'Hey, why aren't you on TV anymore?' I used to say that I couldn't be a mother, and be in wrestling, too. For me, it was either having kids or being on the road, and I decided to stay at home with my girls. They never spent a single day in day-care, I never had babysitters, and it was only when they went to school that I thought about working outside of my house. And once they were old enough to look after themselves, it was too late for me to have any really big opportunity again in the business." Last we heard, aside from the odd convention appearance, Roberts was working as a security guard for Wal Mart in North Texas. She also says her 18-year-old daughter Mikala, captain of her high school soccer team, wants to become a WWE Diva. Full story is at http://tinyurl.com/236f52r.

The former Mrs. Hulk Hogan, Linda Claridge, got some gossip column inches this week for spending the Independence Day holiday weekend on a yacht in Miami, aptly called Alimoney--purposely misspelled and perhaps a jibe at the Hulkster following her mega-bucks undisclosed divorce settlement two years ago.

Bad day today for Nick Hogan. American Airlines broke thousands of dollars worth of his DJ equipment.

Jimmy Yang starts in a few weeks with All Japan. Yang is friends with Kazuhiro Hayashi--booker for the company's junior division--stemming from their WCW days as the Jung Dragons.

Nick Cvjetkovich (Kizarny/Sinn Bohdi) and Stacy Carter (Miss Kitty/The Kat) are allowing HighSpots.tv to film their wedding which I believe takes place during the last week of the month. They are also running a wrestling show the following day with members of the family involved. Crazy deal.

Former WWE wrestler Gene Snitski was the Grand Marshall in the Port Carbon, PA 4th of July Parade. Apparently it's still not his fault. Snitsky will also star in Manos: The Search for Valley Lodge, a sequel to the film Manos: The Hands of Fate, which was once dubbed the "the worst movie ever made" by Entertainment Weekly. The film will be shot next year in El Paso, TX.